Georgia state volleyball playoffs begin

Jessica Serecky (MVP), Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe. Second team: Chassidy Dixon, Murray County; Hayley Hart, North Murray; Jessica Hargrove, Ringgold; Macey Fossett, Coahulla Creek; Kailyn Svihra, Calhoun; Kaylee Litteral, Adairsville; Emalie Hicks, Sonoraville; Nayelli Gomez, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe.

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Ridgeland and Sonoraville will be among the area teams competing today when the GHSA volleyball state playoffs get under way.

Ridgeland won the Area 7-AAAA tournament over the weekend and Sonoraville was the tournament champion in Area 6-AAA. They will play home matches, as will two other area teams. Three others will play on the road.

Ridgeland's Lady Panthers entered their area tournament second-seeded but wound up in first place after a long Saturday.

"We lost our first match and had to work our way out of the losers bracket," Ridgeland coach Kari Cooper said. "We had to win four back-to-back-to-back until finally we got to the final. The biggest thing we did well was just hang in there. A lot of games were really close. We knew we had to finish the games and keep fighting until the end."

The Lady Panthers are led at the net by kills leader Nicole Lonsford and blocks leader Katelyn Baker. Madison Killen leads Ridgeland in digs, Te'a Owens leads in aces and Taylor Williams leads in assists.

Sonoraville came from the No. 2 seeding in its tournament and ended up beating top-seeded Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe twice -- the last in the championship match. The Lady Phoenix's leaders include Emalie Hicks in blocks and aces. Haley Ponder tops the team in kills, Savannah Williams leads in assists and Delaney Bell leads in digs.

"The semifinal we played against LFO was probably the best match we played all year," Sonoraville coach Trace Vaughn said. "I think our confidence level has finally caught up with our ability. It's also perfect timing. I told the girls yesterday that if we play at that level we've got a fantastic shot at going very deep in the state tournament."

Heritage is the other area host in Class AAAA, taking on Walnut Grove at 5:30. Regular-season Area 6-AAA champion and tournament runner-up Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe will be at home against Lumpkin County at 5.

Area 7-AAAA regular-season champion Northwest Whitfield ended up third in the tournament and will play at St. Pius X at 5:30. Southeast Whitfield plays at Marist at 5:30 in the other Class AAAA match, and Ringgold plays at East Hall in Class AAA at 6.

Gordon Lee was the regular-season and tournament champion in Area 6-AA. The Lady Trojans will begin state-tournament play Tuesday when they host Chattooga.

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.

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